No team showered itself with glory this weekend as November opened with three subdued matches. Nonetheless England took home a southern scalp and New Zealand won twice in two days.

JAPAN 6 vs 54 NEW ZEALAND
Saturday, November 2, 05:00 GMT, Tokyo

Despite scoring 47 unanswered points and conceding zero tries, the All Blacks were somewhat underwhelming against a spirited but clearly outmatched Cherry Blossoms side. Ayumu Goromaru knocked over his second penalty goal at the quarter mark but it was virtually one way traffic after that as the mistakes began to creep into the Japanese game. Even still, the home side found ways to disrupt as best as they could, proving surprisingly difficult at the scrum and more than capable at the lineout.

Steve Hansen would have been pleased with the efforts of Steven Luatua and Charles Piutau, and comforted that Richie McCaw got through the entire match and looked good doing so. Not so impressive were the tight five and halfback Tawera Kerr-Barlow, who had a couple nice touches but was otherwise laboured in his delivery. Some credit must go to the Japanese who have whittled the disparity in class and though the scoreboard might not reflect it, looked considerably closer to being capable of competing with a full-on tier 1 nation.

SCORING
Japan – A. Goromaru 2p
New Zealand – D. Carter 5c, B. Barrett 2c 1t, C. Piutau 2t, S. Cane 1t, B. Smith 1t, R. McCaw 1t, J. Thrush 1t, F. Halai 1t

CARDS
New Zealand – S. Cane yellow (80)

JAPAN
A. Goromaru; T. Hirose (capt.) (Y. Fujita 59), M. Sa’u, C. Wing (K. Ono 76), K. Fukuoka; H. Tatekawa (Y. Tamura 28), F. Tanaka; M. Mikami (Y. Nagae 77), S. Horie (Y. Aoki 77), K. Hatakeyama (H. Yamashita 57); S. Ito (K. Thompson 66), H. Ono; H. Tui, M. Broadhurst, K. Holani (T. Kikutani HT).

NEW ZEALAND
B. Barrett; F. Halai, B. Smith (R. Crotty 52), F. Saili, C. Piutau; D. Carter (T. Taylor 52), T. Kerr-Barlow (A. Smith 69); W. Crockett (J. To’omaga-Allen 69), D. Coles (A. Hore 65), B. Franks; J. Thrush, D. Bird (L. Whitelock 59); S. Luatua, S. Cane, R. McCaw (capt.).

ENGLAND 20 vs 13 AUSTRALIA
Saturday, November 2, 14:30 GMT, London

Neither side impressed in an ordinary game at Twickenham that saw England fortunate to be on the beneficial side of a two maddeningly poor officiating decisions. Though 14 points might well have been gratuitous, the home side was the better of the two as the Australians looked flat and disinterested at times. Will Genia had a shocker, Sitaleki Timani was anonymous, and Ben Mowen short of inspiration.

The English scrum again took the Wallabies to pieces, despite cries of foul regarding Mako Vunipola’s admittedly questionable technique, and Owen Farrell managed to hold his nerve after missing three early kicks at goal. Both coaches would be disappointed with their charges’ efforts, though Steve Lancaster might be sleeping a little easier. Argentina are up next at Twickenham while Australia head to Italy to hopefully redeem themselves against the Azzurri.

SCORING
England – O. Farrell 2c 2p 1t, C. Robshaw 1t
Australia – Q. Cooper 1c 2p, M. To’omua 1t

ENGLAND
M. Brown; C. Ashton, J. Tomkins, B. Twelvetrees (T. Flood 66), M. Yarde; O. Farrell, L. Dickson (B. Youngs 55); M. Vunipola (J. Marler 55), T. Youngs (D. Hartley 55), D. Cole (D. Wilson 66); J. Launchbury (D. Atwood 76), C. Lawes; T. Wood, C. Robshaw (capt.), B. Vunipola (B. Morgan 66).

AUSTRALIA
I. Folau; A. Ashley-Cooper (B. Foley 49-53), T. Kuridrani, M. To’omua, N. Cummins; Q. Cooper, W. Genia (N. White 66); J. Slipper (B. Robinson 58), S. Moore (S. Fainga’a 69), B. Alexander (S. Kepu 49); S. Timani (K. Douglas 62), J. Horwill; S. Fardy (B. McCalman 49), M. Hooper, B. Mowen (capt.).

CANADA 15 vs 40 NZ MAORI
Sunday, November 3, 17:00 GMT, Toronto

Plucky, brave, gritty, these are all words likely to be found in the match reports following today’s game. Accurate or not, surely it must get tedious to hear the same platitudes after another heavy defeat to an essentially Tier 1 side. Given their respective resources, nobody expected Canada to win, nor should we demand it, but one can’t help but feel frustrated that so many basic mistakes were made by players who should know better.

It wasn’t so much the handling errors, which plagued both sides, but the numerous tactical decisions that just didn’t make sense. Running the ball for multiple phases from within spitting distance of their goal line was always going to be suicidal, and several times passes were attempted that weren’t even close to 50/50 never mind likely. Why was Aaron Carpenter asked to make a difficult throw to the tail of the lineout when he isn’t even a specialist hooker?

The Maori were far from their best but they won the battle at the breakdown and capitalised on the Canadian mistakes. They pinpointed tight forwards defending the midfield, with Robbie Robinson’s try a perfect illustration as he stepped Jon Phelan with ease. A late change saw Piri Weepu withdrawn from the side, though curiously he led the Timatanga before kickoff, and Jamison Gibson-Park stepped up to score twice.

Canada did manage to score two good tries, and there were strong performances from the forwards, particularly Hubert Buydens, Nanyak Dala, and the excellent Ardron. One can’t fault their intent or effort, but the accuracy simply must improve. Having their top professionals available will certainly help, and they will have to. Georgia are not the same calibre of opponent but they are no slouches, and in six days we will have a good indication of where this Canadian side is at – hopefully better than it was today.

SCORING
Canada – L. Underwood 1c 1p, J. Hassler 1t, A. Carpenter 1t
NZ Maori – A. Taylor 2c, R. Robinson 2c 1t, I. West 1c, J. Gibson-Park 2t, Z. Guildford 1t, M. Proctor 1t, N. Barrett 1t

CANADA
M. Evans; J. Hassler, C. Hearn (C. Braid HT), H. Jones, C. Trainor; L. Underwood (P. Parfrey 68), P. Mack (J. Mackenzie 53); H. Buydens, R. Barkwill (K. Gilmour 76), D. Wooldridge (J. Ilnicki 64); J. Phelan (A. Flagg 69), T. Ardron; N. Dala (A. Kleeberger 38), J. Moonlight, A. Carpenter (capt.).

NZ MAORI
R. Robinson (K. Baker 73); A. Taylor, C. Ngatai, J. Willison (I. West 76), Z. Guildford; T. Bateman (capt.), J. Gibson-Park; K. Hames (C. Eves 68), H. Elliot (A. Dixon 24), B. Afeaki (N. Barrett 72); J. Hoeata, J. Wheeler (B. Thomson 68); L. Squire, L. Braid (S. Christie 53), E. Dixon.